Mark Hatfield

Mark Hatfield

Mark Odom Hatfield (July 12, 1922 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States Senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. A native Oregonian, he served in the United States Navy in the Pacific Theater during World War II after graduating from Willamette University. After the war he earned a graduate degree from Stanford University before returning to Oregon and Willamette as a professor.

While still teaching, Hatfield served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. He won election to the Oregon Secretary of State's office at the age of 34 and two years later was elected as the 29th Governor of Oregon. He was the youngest person to ever serve in either of those offices, and served two terms as governor before election to the United States Senate. In the Senate he served for 30 years, and now holds the record for longest tenure of any Senator from Oregon. At the time of his retirement, he was 7th most senior Senator as well as second most senior Republican. In 1968, he was considered a candidate to be Richard Nixon's running mate for the Republican Party presidential ticket.

Hatfield served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations on two different occasions. With this role, he was able to direct funding to Oregon and research-related projects. Several Oregon institutions, buildings and facilities are named in his honor, including the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, the Mark O. Hatfield Library at Willamette University (his alma mater), the Hatfield Government Center light rail station, the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government in the College of Urban and Public Affairs at Portland State University, and the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. Outside of Oregon, a research center at the National Institutes of Health is also named in his honor for his support of medical research while in the Senate. Hatfield died in Portland on August 7, 2011, after a long illness.